Poll: Parents most responsible when kids play violent video games

WASHINGTON — Parents should be most responsible for determining whether minors can buy or rent violent video games, according to a new, nationwide survey conducted for the nonpartisan First Amendment Center.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association Nov. 2 over a California law that prohibits the sale or rental to anyone under 18 of games that portray the fictional “killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being.”

“The survey results show a clear majority of Americans see parents having the most responsibility for deciding whether violent videos games ought to be purchased or rented by children, with a smaller but sizeable majority also approving a government ban,” said Gene Policinski, vice president and executive director of the first Amendment Center.

The survey, conducted Oct. 29-30 by Gallup, asked how much responsibility parents, video-game manufacturers, government, or retail or online stores should have for deciding whether children may buy or rent such games. The survey found:

86% said parents should have a “great deal” of responsibility, the highest result on the question, with just 4% saying they should have no responsibility.

43% said video-game manufacturers and retail or online stores should have a “great deal” of responsibility, with less than 20% saying the groups should have no responsibility.

28% said government should have a “great deal” of responsibility, with 26% saying government should have no responsibility.

Still, respondents by a 2-1 ratio would permit laws such as California’s ban on sale or rentals to minors: 68% said government should be able to prevent sales or rentals of violent games to children under age 18; 31% said it should not, with 2% undecided.

“In recent decades, adults concerned about the impact of comic books, popular music and movies on children have pressed for government control of content, but voluntary industry codes and parental monitoring largely have worked,” said Ken Paulson, president of the First Amendment Center. “Mom and Dad are still in the best position to keep inappropriate content out of the hands of kids.”

Results of the survey are based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 29-30, 2010, by Gallup on the Gallup Daily tracking survey, with a random sample of 1,033 adults, age 18 or older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, selected using random-digit dial sampling. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. See survey results.

Experts at the First Amendment Center are available to discuss the survey findings: Ken Paulson, president; Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director; and David Hudson, First Amendment Center scholar. To arrange an interview, please contact the First Amendment Center at 615-727-1600.

The First Amendment Center supports the First Amendment and builds understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment. The center, with offices at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C., is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. Its offices on the Vanderbilt campus are in the John Seigenthaler Center. The center is nonpartisan and does not lobby or litigate.

The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.

Ken Paulson is president of the First Amendment Center and dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. He is also the former editor-in-chief of USA Today.

Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, also is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center, a center of the institute. He is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.

John Seigenthaler founded the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.

About The First Amendment Center

We support the First Amendment and build understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment.

The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the government.

Founded by John Seigenthaler, the First Amendment Center is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. The center has offices in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The center’s website, www.firstamendmentcenter.org, is one of the most authoritative sources of news, information and commentary in the nation on First Amendment issues. It features daily updates on news about First Amendment-related developments, as well as detailed reports about U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment, and commentary, analysis and special reports on free expression, press freedom and religious-liberty issues. Support the work of the First Amendment Center.

1 For All

1 for All is a national nonpartisan program designed to build understanding and support for First Amendment freedoms. 1 for All provides teaching materials to the nation’s schools, supports educational events on America’s campuses and reminds the public that the First Amendment serves everyone, regardless of faith, race, gender or political leanings. It is truly one amendment for all. Visit 1 for All at http://1forall.us/

Help tomorrow’s citizens find their voice: Teach the First Amendment

The most basic liberties guaranteed to Americans – embodied in the 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – assure Americans a government that is responsible to its citizens and responsive to their wishes.

These 45 words are as alive and important today as they were more than 200 years ago. These liberties are neither liberal nor conservative, Democratic nor Republican – they are the basis for our representative democratic form of government.

We know from studies beginning in 1997 by the nonpartisan First Amendment Center, and from studies commissioned by the Knight Foundation and others, that few adult Americans or high school students can name the individual five freedoms that make up the First Amendment.

The lesson plans – drawn from materials prepared by the Newseum and the First Amendment Center – will draw young people into an exploration of how their freedoms began and how they operate in today’s world. Students will discuss just how far individual rights extend, examining rights in the school environment and public places. The lessons may be used in history and government, civics, language arts and journalism, art and debate classes. They may be used in sections or in their entirety. Many of these lesson plans indicate an overall goal, offer suggestions on how to teach the lesson and list additional resources and enrichment activities.

First Amendment Moot Court Competition

This site no longer is being updated … And the competition itself is moving to Washington, D.C., where the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center is co-sponsoring the “Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition,” March 18-19, in partnership with the Columbus School of Law, of the Catholic University of America.

During the two-day competition in February, each team will participate in a minimum of four rounds, arguing a hypothetical based on a current First Amendment controversy before panels of accomplished jurists, legal scholars and attorneys.

FIRST AMENDMENT CENTER ARCHIVES

State of the First Amendment survey reports

The State of the First Amendment surveys, commissioned since 1997 by the First Amendment Center and Newseum, are a regular check on how Americans view their first freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition.

The periodic surveys examine public attitudes toward freedom of speech, press, religion and the rights of assembly and petition; and sample public opinion on contemporary issues involving those freedoms.
See the reports.